|
Two Political Groups
|
||
|
The United States has two major political groups: one calls itself conservative and pejoratively brands the other liberal, as if “liberal” were a dirty word. One wants to drill for oil in the Alaska Wildlife Reserve. The other wants to preserve the wildlife reserve. One wants you to invest some of your Social Security money with Wall Street and take your chances. The other wants to preserve the Social Security program as an emergency insurance safety-net and prevent government from "borrowing" these funds and spending them for non-SS purposes. One wants to give huge tax reductions to the most wealthy citizens while increasing the federal deficit and national debt. The other wants to eliminate tax reductions for the wealthy, reduce the deficit, and pay off the national debt. One wants "less government," but wants it to intervene in state-court decisions regarding the terminally ill. The other wants the federal government to quit interfering in life and health issues that have been decided by state legislatures and upheld by state courts. One wants "less government," but demands the right to arrest you without charge, confine you without access to legal counsel, and hold you indefinitely. The other wants "the government" to practice democracy in the United States and adhere to the U.S. Constitution. One wants "less government," but wants it to tell you whom you can marry. The other wants the government to leave the question of whom to marry between the involved parties and God.
|
One wants "less government," but wants it to tell you when or if you can terminate a pregnancy. The other wants the question of pregnancy to be left to the pregnant woman, her physician, and God. One wants "less government," but it wants it to enforce the moral views and opinions of this group on all citizens. The other wants the government--secular by nature and constitutional provision--to quit imposing the moral views of one group on everyone else. One wants political candidates to have unlimited access to corporate campaign contributions. The other wants a limit to campaign contributions. One wants government of the wealthy, by the wealthy, for the wealthy. The other wants government of the people, by the people, for the people. One wants you to believe “liberal” is a dirty word. The other wants you to understand that “liberal” means giving freely, not restricted, tolerant of views differing from one’s own, broad-minded, favoring progress, favoring reforms tending toward democracy and personal freedom for the individual. How long has it been since a conservative confessed that he was opposed to reforms tending toward democracy and personal freedom for the individual?! --Bob Hartsell, Ph.D. |
|